Santa Anita H.

TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS

The $1 million Santa Anita H. (G1) is the centerpiece of the winter meet, and

the prestigious event will feature LAVA MAN (Slew City Slew), who will long be

remembered for his incredible accomplishments in Southern California. The $4

million earner became the first horse to sweep the Big 'Cap, Hollywood Gold Cup

(G1) and Pacific Classic (G1) in the same season last year, and he turned in

perhaps his best performance when annexing this event, registering a 110 BRIS

Speed rating. The Doug O'Neill-trained gelding returned to the races in fine

form in 2007, easily capturing the Sunshine Millions Turf at Santa Anita, but he

figures to be 3-5 on Saturday. We'll go out on a limb, but won't be surprised to

see the mighty Lava Man beat us.

MOLENGAO (Brz) (Royal Academy) was running in allowance and optional claiming events over the winter last year, but he looks much improved

this season, recording a game head victory in the February 4 San Antonio H. (G2)

last time out that netted him a 103 Speed and 116 Late Pace number. Trained by

Paulo Lobo, the six-year-old horse upped his mark to 3-2-0-1 over the main track

in Arcadia, California, and the late-running Molengao should get some pace to

set up his rally in here with BALL FOUR (Grand Slam) and perhaps a couple of

other rivals mixing it up on the front end. The 10-furlong distance is right up

his alley, and Molengao could be along in time to spring a major upset.

Lava Man has won eight straight in Southern California and as the saying

goes, all good things must come to an end. He isn't facing the

toughest group of rivals in this spot, and Lava Man proved in last year's

Hollywood Gold Cup, when he barely edged out Ace Blue (Brz) (Coax Me Clyde), that he can still

come out on top despite not being at the top of his game. The six-year-old

didn't run well in his last dirt start when shipping for the Breeders' Cup

Classic (G1), and he's going to make plenty of appearances on the turf this

year, with his next target being the $5 million Dubai Duty Free (UAE-G1) on the

grass at Nad al Sheba. He's had some foot problems in the past, and we wouldn't

be surprised to see his connections eventually concentrate strictly on turf

events. This might be the time to beat Lava Man on the main track, but we can't

take anything away from the classy gelding.

ARSON SQUAD (Brahms) has earned century-topping Late Pace figures in his last

five outings and could make his presence felt in the stretch on Saturday. The

multiple Grade 2 victor has never been 1 1/4 miles before, but he did capture

the nine-furlong Strub S. (G2) in good fashion last time. The four-year-old

gelding may continue to offer much more for trainer Bruce Headley, and Garrett

Gomez sticks with Arson Squad over Molengao.

AWESOME GEM (Awesome Again) recorded a minor upset in the San Fernando

Breeders' Cup S. (G2) two starts back and turned in a solid third in the Strub

last time. His Speed ratings will need to continue to improve, but the

four-year-old gelding appears to be heading in the right direction for Craig

Dollase. Consider for part.

SPRING AT LAST (Silver Deputy) is making good strides for O'Neill, finishing

second in both the Strub and Malibu S. (G1), and we could see using him on the

bottom of the exotics. However, we have our doubts about his chances at 1 1/4

miles at this stage in his career. MCCANN'S MOJAVE (Memo [Chi]) sprang an upset

at 33-1 in the Sunshine Millions Classic last out, but he'll step up to face

much tougher company here while stretching out in distance. The seven-year-old

will likely be forwardly placed under Frank Alvarado, and we can't completely

dismiss him for a minor award given his current form.

BOBOMAN (Kingmambo) will be making his main track debut for Richard Mandella.

The Grade 1 winner has trained forwardly for this appearance, but we'll just

watch to see how he fares on dirt. Ball Four relishes the Polytrack at Turfway

Park, winning the Kentucky Cup Classic (G2) last September, and didn't run

poorly in the San Antonio last time, but we're concerned about the added

distance with the front runner. EL ROBLAR (War Chant) might find this company

too difficult to make any kind of an impact.